


To Touch The Wrong Family

by Magnonette



Series: A lot can happen to Snufkin [9]
Category: Moominvalley (Cartoon 2019), Mumintroll | Moomins Series - Tove Jansson, 楽しいムーミン一家 | Moomin (Anime 1990)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Blood and Violence, But not that much, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Family, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Injury, PTSD, Sick Character, Sickfic, Snusmumriken | Snufkin Whump, Whump
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-05
Updated: 2020-07-17
Packaged: 2021-03-04 06:08:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 18,666
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24558931
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Magnonette/pseuds/Magnonette
Summary: On a beautiful morning, Snufkin and Little My receive an unexpected letter from their siblings.They decide to go back home for some times to see if they can help, but things aren't as easy as they thought.
Relationships: Mumintrollet | Moomintroll/Snusmumriken | Snufkin
Series: A lot can happen to Snufkin [9]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1441966
Comments: 12
Kudos: 105





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello, hello! Welcome to this new fic!
> 
> Prepare for some sweet family and some big hurt, lots of angst :3

It wasn’t unusual for MymbleMamma to date other men while Joxter was gone, both of them having agreed a long time ago that they both needed this kind of freedom, but still deeply in love. She had married him after making sure that he wouldn’t feel trapped by the ring, if not, only to remind herself that he would always be back and him that he had a place to go back to and his dear wife waiting for him back home.

As per usual, while Joxter had gone for his winter trip south, to join his son and go a little farther than this one, as to leave him his time alone, she had gone to find a new boyfriend. This one had seemed nice at first, although he seemed a little clumsy with the children, but who could blame him knowing how feral they could be. but, as time passed, Mymble suddenly became ill. It was slow, so very slow, and he took good care of her while she was ill, but, even as he fussed over her, she didn’t get better.

It was a few weeks after the beginning of Spring, Snufkin had been back on the first day, as promised to Moomin, and was now sitting on the bridge as he waited for everyone to wake up, watching the sky slowly lighting up as the sun came up. All in all, it was a peaceful morning, the birds were only beginning to fly around, singing all over the Valley as the inhabitants slowly woke up.

The calm was broken, however, when Snufkin heard someone calling out to him. He turned his head away from the sky and up the path to his campsite. The postman was waving at him as he walked down the path towards him. Snufkin was quite confused at first, it was quite usual for him to see the postman, and he couldn’t help but feel a ball forming in the pit of his stomach.

“Hello, Snufkin.” The postman greeted him kindly. “I’ve got a letter for you and your sister.” He explained, searching in his bag for a moment before retrieving a letter and handing it to him.

“Hello. A letter for me and Little My?” He asked, surprised and confused. He wasn’t used to receive anything and now he was receiving a letter, and it was for him and Little My? Something was wrong and he could feel it. “Thank you.” He said politely as he took the letter, the postman nodding at his question. “Isn’t it a bit early for mail?”

“Better come here early.” The postman huffed, looking up at MoominHouse behind Snufkin. “At least, I’m sure she won’t be there to prank me this time.”

“Sorry about that.” Snufkin sighed apologetically, hiding his small smile under the brim of his hat. “I’m afraid My is quite persistent when she finds a target. But it’s a good plan to come so early, you can be sure she won’t be awake for another hour at most.” He said calmly.

“I wish she’d find another target.” The postman replied, huffing again before sighing. “I can’t even get to MoominHouse to talk to the Moomin when I give them their mail anymore.” He sighed again before closing his bag and adjusting it on his shoulder. “Well, anyway, I have to go. Have a good day.” He said as he turned and started to head back the way he came, waving goodbye to Snufkin. “Say hi to the Moomins for me.”

“I will. Thank you. Have a good day too.” Snufkin called back, waving at him.

He chuckled a little as he watched the postman’s silhouette disappear in the horizon. The poor man had a really hard time with Little My and her pranks, and Snufkin felt a little bad for him, but he couldn’t help but find it funny how his sister could scare him away so easily.

Snufkin took a last look at the sky, enjoying the last colors of dawn giving way to the bright blue of the sky, before finally looking down at the letter in his paw. It was intriguing, who would send Little My and him a letter?

He thought for a moment, turning the envelope over to see if whoever sent it left their name. Surprisingly, despite the messy handwriting, he could read a name.

Mymble family

He frowned, recognizing instantly his siblings handwriting. Something had to be wrong for them to be the one sending a letter. Even when they wanted to send one, MymbleMamma would always be the one to write it for them, as it was quite hard to read their handwriting at times and as they would fight to be the one to get to write it otherwise, so for them to be the ones to write it, and to send it…

Snufkin looked up at MoominHouse, frown deepening as he thought. He didn’t take long to think about it before jumping off the railing of the bridge and making his way to the blue house.

He hesitated a moment at the front door, questioning his next move, before heading inside. MoominMamma greeted him gently, probably on her way to make her delicious pancakes before everyone else woke up.

“Hullo MoominMamma.” He greeted back politely, tucking the letter in his pocket unconsciously. “I don’t suppose Little My is up?”

“Little My?” She laughed softly. “Not for another hour probably.” She smiled before she paused to look at him, studying him. She sighed and smiled at him knowingly. “You can still try to see if she’s awake, but be careful of the bite.” She teased before pointing out which door it was.

“Thank you, MoominMamma.” Snufkin smiled back before excusing himself and heading to the door she’d pointed to him.

He wasn’t sure how well Little My would react at being awoken, but he didn’t really think he should wait either. If something was off with their family and they’d sent them both a letter, he should make sure he can talk about it with her before anyone else questions it.

He gently knocked on the door, waiting for an answer. When he didn’t hear anything he sighed and cracked the door open. Like he’d thought, Little My was fast asleep in her bed, half falling out of it in her sleep. Snufkin smiled and huffed quietly before entering and closing the door shut behind him. He made his way to the bed, kneeling next to it, close to his sister.

“Little My?” Snufkin called quietly, carefully reaching out to shake her awake gently. “Wake up.”

“Mrrp?” Little My said, half waking up.

She rolled over on her other side, hiding her face under her paws. Snufkin tried to contain his chuckles as he shook her gently again. She grumbled a little before finally sitting up and rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. She looked up at Snufkin after a while, her face turning from grumpy to confused as she saw her brother next to her bed.

“Good Morning Little My.” Snufkin smiled.

“What’s wrong?” She asked, frowning as she looked at the time. “You never wake me up no matter what.” She pointed out before Snufkin could ask why she thought something was wrong.

“We got a letter from our siblings.” Snufkin sighed, taking the letter out of his pocket and showing it to Little My.

“What does it say?” She asked, looking at the envelope for a moment before meeting his eyes again.

“I don’t know.” Snufkin shrugged. “It’s for both of us, I thought it wouldn’t be fair to read it first.”

She squinted at him, searching his expression, before taking the letter from him and opening it. Snufkin didn’t protest, looking as she took the wrinkled paper out of the envelope. She scooted over, making place for Snufkin to sit by her side on the bed so they could read it together. Snufkin obliged, sitting next to her and looking at the letter in her paws.

The handwriting was even messier than on the envelope, indicating that their siblings had all tried to have their turned writing on it. There wasn’t any sign of MymbleMamma’s handwriting however, which was another reason for concern.

The whole letter was hard for them to read, and had to debate on a few parts where they weren’t sure what was written, but what they could understand was very worrying. After making sure they’d understood the same thing, Snufkin and Little My looked at each other. They didn’t need to say anything, they knew they thought the same.

Little My scrambled out of bed, searching her room for a moment before handing Snufkin a paper and a pen. Snufkin nodded, knowing exactly what she meant, and set to write something on the paper. While he did that, Little My took the letter back, putting it back inside the envelope. Snufkin folded his own letter when he was done, taking the envelope from Little My and put it in a drawer of her desk at her instructions.

They headed downstairs right after, going to see MoominMamma to tell her that they wouldn’t be there for a while. They didn’t explain why they were going, or why they didn’t want anyone else to know, only asking Mamma a quite favor before going. Mamma agreed to do what they asked, but she stopped them before they could go out, handing each of them a plate of freshly made pancakes and telling them to eat before going. Snufkin wasn’t sure, but as Little My was eager to eat the best pancakes of the world before going back home, he decided it couldn’t hurt to enjoy MoominMamma’s delicious cooking.

After breakfast, Snufkin and Little My hurried off to his tent, not escaping one last goodbye from MoominMamma as she kissed their forehead and told them to take care of themselves. Snufkin quickly packed up everything, helped by his sister. Once everything was prepared, he shouldered his backpack, waving one last time at MoominMamma as she stepped out to water her flowers, before starting to walk.

Luckily, their house wasn’t too far from the Valley, but it was still about a day of walk, forcing them to pause a few times, Little My complaining about having to walk all the way on her own and about the taste of the little food Snufkin gave her. Snufkin didn’t really listen to her, knowing that despite what she was saying, she didn’t mind much. He knew she was just as worried as him after reading the letter and was just trying to convince them both that she wasn’t.

They arrived at MymbleMamma’s house just before night. They knocked on the door before entering. They didn’t know what to expect when they did but it certainly wasn’t that.

The Mymble’s house was always so noisy, filled with cries and fights as the little ones ran around the house. They’d never thought they’d see the day where they’d arrive to a quiet house.

But now, there they were, opening the door to their mother’s quiet house, to a dark room filled with their siblings, sitting quietly on the floor. It was an horrible sight. They were all dirty and looked as if they hadn’t had much to eat in a while. The room itself looked as if no one had cleaned or aired it for a while, the air inside making Snufkin immediately want to go back out.

Snufkin tried to himself, as he knew he couldn’t go back now, he had to stay and be there to help their siblings and their mother.

As the light fell on them, the children turned their head in surprise to look at them. Their eyes were scared and immediately filled with fear as they say Snufkin and Little My at the door. They scrambled to them, clutching to them as they cried silently. Snufkin and Little My hugged them back, trying to reassure them. When they met eyes, they could read in the other’s eyes that they thought the same.

It was much worse than they ever thought.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading this first chapter! I hope you liked the begining to this fic.
> 
> Now, what could they have found? Why is it worse than they could have thought?
> 
> I'll post the next chapter soon, maybe sooner than I thing i will if people ask for it. I'm weak to people asking for more lol.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh, hey look! Another chapter :3
> 
> (tw: violance/abuse)

The letter they had received was written by their siblings, which was already worrying in itself since it was always MymbleMamma that wrote down anything for them, but what they could make out of the messy handwriting was much more alarming.

They were asking for help. Their siblings help.

They explained that their mother’s new boyfriend had been really bad with them all ever since their mother had fallen sick and couldn’t take care of them, that he’d been really mean and didn’t let anyone do anything.

They were pleading Snufkin and Little My to come save them, to tell Joxter to come kick this man out of the house.

They’d even mentioned that this new boyfriend had threatened them multiple times, even going as far as to threaten them to hurt them if they ever tried to inform anyone of the situation when he’d finally allowed them to go out for a short time, still watching over them carefully, not letting them out of his sight.

“Who are you?” A man asked, entering the main room and seeing Snufkin and Little My with all their siblings. He seemed a bit wary of them, but he also seemed to be putting on a façade in front of them, smiling kindly at them as they stood back up and greeted him.

“We’re the Mymble’s children.” Snufkin replied calmly, keeping his voice neutral as not to show his disgust for the man. They needed to act as if they didn’t know anything, as if they’d just arrived without any reason.

“Yeah!” Little My said, putting her hands on her hips. “We come back home when we want and wanted to see our mother. Where is she? Why are our siblings all dirty.” She demanded.

Snufkin mentally facepalmed. He knew Little My would have more trouble acting like she didn’t know anything, and that she would probably have acted the same had she not known, but he still couldn’t help but feel like she was going to get their cover blown.

The man laughed lightly, smiling at them, a dark grin that he was obviously trying to make look gentle in front of them. “I’m afraid you’re mother has gotten down with a bad cold, I couldn’t really take the time to clean much. I’m sorry, you’re coming home at quite a bad moment.” He explained casually. “And those poor children had been so worried about their mother, I’m afraid I couldn’t really do much to take care of them while taking care of her.”

“Well,” Little My spoke up, “Now that we’re here, we weren’t planning on leaving for a while so we can help take care of them and of her mother.” She said sternly.

Snufkin nodded at that, knowing that it would at least allow them to protect their siblings while they were there. The Man in front of them frowned, quickly smiling again and nodding.

“i wouldn’t be against some help with the children,” He agreed with his fake and dark smile, “But I’m afraid I can’t allow you to see your mother. She’s much too sick. I’m already trying my best to take care of her without catching her cold, I wouldn’t want you to catch it as well.” He explained, trying to sound apologetic but failing miserably to convince the two siblings.

Snufkin and Little My wanted to argue but after reading the letter and after seeing their siblings like that, they knew it wouldn’t be smart. They sighed and agreed, trying to make it seem like they understood his worry and only asking him if he could make sure to tell them if they could do anything to help her.

They excused themselves as they made their way to their bedroom, followed by all the children, saying they needed to put down their back at their bed before taking care of the little ones. They asked the man if they could wash them while he took care of their mother. The man thought for a moment before smiling again and nodding, only demanding them to not make too much noise as too not hurt MymbleMamma’s head.

After they put down their bag at their bed, tidying them quickly before tending to their siblings. For the rest of the day, they took care of washing them off, cleaning their beds and making food for everyone, at the approval of the boyfriend.

The next few days were spent the next few days taking care of their siblings, trying to make sure they’d be fed and cared for. They had to shush them every time they tried to tell them about the horrible things the man did and said to them, they couldn’t let them put themselves more in danger by talking when the man could hear them.

The man tried his best to be nice at first, trying to put them in confiance. They could tell that he was suspicious of them, but they knew he wouldn’t try to keep the façade for long. They’d talked with their siblings at night, once they were sure he wasn’t listening, to know who they were up against, and they quickly came to the conclusion that they couldn’t try anything against him without making their mother’s life in danger. They needed more time to come up with a plan.

They just hoped their back up plan would arrive sooner or later.

It didn’t took very long for the man to stop pretending to be nice and caring towards them. After only a few days, he started to become more threatening, more dangerous.

He’d ask them to take care of their siblings, as he’d noticed that they were the most mature and more aware of what they were doing, while their siblings were just acting like young kids no matter their age. He’d be really strict about the kids being silent and not making any noise, finding any excuses to get mad at them.

Snufkin and Little My always stood up to take the defense of their siblings, not once showing any sign of fear in front him. He would quickly blame them for anything their siblings would do, even when it wasn’t anything as they were too afraid to do anything.

As the days went on, the man became more and more threatening, even going as far as to grab Snufkin and Little My by their scarf and whispering horrible threats in there face.  
Snufkin was used to empty threat by people on the road who didn’t really like mumriks or travelers like him, but he could tell those threats weren’t empty.

He kept warning them about what he would do to their mother, how he was going to kill their siblings and them if they did anything against him, or if they couldn’t keep their siblings calm.

He wasn’t even trying to hide how much he hated them both anymore, constantly trying to reach out and trying to hurt them, he even denied them food. Luckily for them, Snufkin still had some food in his pack that he had hidden in a secret place in their bedroom.

One day, Snufkin started to feel sick to his stomach and to his head. He knew he must have been coming down with something, which was strange as he was usually quite healthy, and he was starting to suspect his mother’s boyfriend for it, as well as for her own illness, but he didn’t say anything to anyone, not even Little My. He never showed anything to the other, trying to act as he did for the past few days as he took care of his siblings with his sister and protecting them from the man, taking a few hits for them and even for Little My. He could tell that Little My knew something was off. She’d probably noticed the paleness of his skin, but she didn’t have the time to question him as another incident happened.

That day, the boyfriend was acting even more violent than before, trying to grab some of the kids without any reason, complaining about how they were making the house so dirty when they had just cleaned everything for him. Little My and Snufkin had to step in again to protect them. This time, Snufkin was too slow, feeling too weak with his intensifying illness to act fast enough without fainting. 

She screamed at him, forcing his attention on her before he could do anything to their terrified siblings. Of course, he didn’t like the sudden screaming, starting to throw a fit of rage against Little My. Not only did he yelled at her about everything he hated with her, everything he would do to all of them, how he was going to get rid of them all, but he also kicked her with his foot in her stomach. It was done with such strength that she was projected a few meters away. She gasped in pain, clutching to her stomach as she curled in on herself while he continued to scream.

All the children, still in shock, immediately scrambled around her, crying her name and asking her if she was alright, some others pleading the man to stop as he approached for more, still yelling horrible things at them all. No matter how many times they pleaded and apologized to him, he did not stop.

He was about to grab on of the children again, to push them out of the way, when Snufkin finally stepped in front of him. He just had time to get in front of him, however, before the man was grabbing his throat furiously. He lifted him off his feet, turning his cruel words toward him now as Snufkin tried to free himself, his paws flying to take hold of the man’s arms around his throat, his claws digging into him.

There was more screams, the siblings and Little My screaming at him to stop, to let him go. Snufkin couldn’t breath. He was starting to think that this was how he was going to die, in front of his terrified siblings, strangled by the hands of their mother’s boyfriend.

Finally, he was released. He fell to the floor, gasping for air and coughing, curling on himself as he tried to breath. His siblings were all hurrying around him, not crowding him too much as they knew that he often needed his space and to let him get back his breathing.

There was silence now, as the man left them, dropping only one last threat for them all, and an order to go to bed soon, before going back to MymbleMamma’s side. Snufkin stayed laying on the floor, still trying to catch his breath. Little My was half laying on top of him, trying to sooth him by rubbing his back gently, although shakily, while still coughing and trying not to make any pained noises. Their siblings were still crying around them, as silently as they could, still keeping their distance from the both of them. They kept apologizing in between small broken sobs to them, for making them come home when it only ended in them getting hurt for them all.

It took a long time but, eventually, Snufkin finally sat up, still a shocked and feeling horrible, his breathing still catching up in his throat from time to time. Little My sat on his lap, wrapping her arms around him. In return, he wrapped his arms around her small shivering frame, holding tight onto her for a moment before releasing one arm. She did the same, understanding without even looking up at him. They reached out towards the horde of their siblings. They all immediately joined in their improvised hug, all of them wanting, needing the comfort after such an horrible end of the day.

They stayed like that for a while, all hugging each other, before finally pulling away. Snufkin and Little My slowly got up, trying their best to not look too much in pain in front of the other as to not worry them more, before shushing them all as they led them back to their bedroom. They both took their time, not caring about how much pain they were in, to put to bed all their siblings and make sure they would all sleep.

Snufkin and Little My had been taking turns at sleeping, each one sleeping half of the night and the other waking them up so they would take their turn while they slept. They’d decided on that after the first threat directed at all of them in front of them.

So, when they could finally go to bed, they had to agree on which one of them would sleep first. Little My was reticent at first, but she was too tired to argue too much with her brother as he insisted for her to sleep first, arguing that she had been hurt more than him and that he still wanted to take the time to breath before sleeping.

Little My wasn’t happy with the deal, but she obeyed, quickly falling asleep with her brother next to her, stroking her back unfairly to help sooth her into sleep.

Snufkin sighed, quickly putting his paw on his mouth to muffle his cough. He was glad the day was finally over, but he couldn’t help after what had happened to fear for what was about to come next.

A shiver ran down his spine as the events that had just occurred came back to him, his throat wanting to close of its own accord. He tried to relax, trying to will himself to breath slowly. He was feeling so sick now, he felt lightheaded and nauseous. He was afraid that he was getting to sick to protect any of them now.

As he started to feel sicker by the minutes, he felt his head starting to sway. His vision became blurry. He tried to reach out to wake Little My up, fearing of what would happen to her if he fell, but failing, falling on his bed. His vision slowly turned to black. He tried to fight it, but he couldn’t, he felt himself be slowly engulfed in darkness.

Little My woke up to an empty bed. She sat up, wincing at the pain in her abdomen. She looked around the room, groggily rubbing her eyes as she tried to ignore the pain from the forming bruise on her body.

When she finally noticed that Snufkin wasn’t anywhere in the room, she was immediately fully awake. He should have woken up about an hour ago. She looked around more frantically, noticing that his hat was still where he had put it for the night, on the bedpost. She felt her panic rising, her mind starting to race as she thought at all the reason her brother could be missing.

She quickly got up, trying to stay steady and quiet as she felt the pain rising at her movement, and starting going around the house. She tried her best to stay quiet as she feared what the man would do to her if he found her sneaking around at night, all alone.

She felt her panic rise more and more as she looked in every room of the house, never finding any sign of her brother, and more worrying even, no sign of the man. She’d come across her mother’s room, she’d kept it for last as it was more likely to be where the boyfriend was. She carefully put her ear to the door, noticing as she did so that the door was partially opened. When she was sure that she couldn’t hear anymore noises than her mother’s laboured breathing and coughing, she peeked inside.

The room was dark inside. The window was closed, the curtains closed as well, and the room was filled with dust and the air smelled like illness. The air heavy, showing that no one had aired the room in a long time. MymbleMamma laid in her bed, tucked under her blanket and with a now dry cloth on her forehead. She looked so pale and sick, so weak.

Little My slowly opened the door, making her way inside hesitantly at first. She had noticed that the man was not there, but as much as she feared he might be outside, she couldn’t help but feel like she should be careful. He could as well be hiding in the room. 

She looked around for a moment before making her way to her mother, finally sure that he wasn’t around, to check on her. She looked awful in the dark like that. Little My thought for a moment, about what she should do next. Her brother was missing, so was the man, but her mother needed to be taken care of too.

There was a noise in the hallway, making her heart drop for a moment. She quickly sighed in relief when she heard multiple pair of footsteps coming closer, knowing instantly that it was just her siblings. She turned around and, sure enough, her siblings came peering at the door, looking at her with scared and worried eyes.

She put a finger to her lips before they could ask anything, motioning them to be silent, before hoping off of the chair she’d climbed to take a look at her mother. She made her way to the door, taking this time to think quickly of what to do.

“Snufkin is missing.” She whispered to them, trying her best not to sound too scared. “That man is gone too.” She shushed them again as they gasped, thinking the same as her. “I need a group to stay by Mamma and the others to help me find Snufkin.” She said, watching as the children looked at each others before silently splitting in two group. “You, you stay with Mamma. You need to open the curtains and the window, air the room. Clean the room a little and put a new, damp cloth on Mamma’s forehead.” She instructed the smaller group, watching them nodding, still scared but with more determination now that they were able to be useful. “And you, you look around the house with me. We need to find our brother.”

With that, after she watched them nod, she made her way out of the room, reminding one last time the group that was staying with their mother to be careful and quiet. She went around the house again, her siblings helping her look everywhere while still being careful and looking out for the man. When they arrived in the last room they had to check again, they stopped, looking around silently. 

No one was there either.

Little My tried her best to let anyone see how freaked out she was as she continued to look around, trying to think where they could have gone. She felt her heart stop a moment later as she finally noticed something.

The front door of the house was cracked opened and in front of it, on the floor, laid a harmonica. Snufkin’s harmonica.

She swallowed, willing herself to stop shaking, and moved towards it. She heard the children walking up behind her as she reached down to grab the instrument. It didn’t take long for her to put two and two together.

She opened the door, and raced outside, hearing her siblings running after her, knowing what was happening too. She immediately headed for the forest, knowing the best parts of it for the few times she’d spent there with her brother and their siblings. She knew she could found them, Snufkin had taught her how to find a lot of things in there, if she could find a small animal based on some cracked stick and a few footprints, then she could find them. 

She had to.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading~
> 
> I hope you enjoy it so far.
> 
> I hope it wasn't too much for you guys but hey, i warned you, and you gotta go bad before it gets much better, right? :3


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh, what's this? Another chapter? hell yeah! :3

The first thing he noticed, as Snufkin slowly woke up, was the horrible sensation of being carried like a bag of potatoes. He was feeling horrible, his dizziness getting worse with motion sickness. He was still half asleep, feeling much to weak to fight against being carried away. He tried to look around, to understand what was happening, but his eyes wouldn’t cooperate. His blurry vision slowly faded back to black, the feeling of movement lulling him back into the darkness.

When he fully woke up, however, he felt himself being thrown to the ground and against a tree. He gasped in pain, fighting back the nausea, before finally daring to open his eyes. 

He wished he hadn’t opened them.

In front of his, standing with a cruel, smug, smile, was the man. He looked so please as he watched Snufkin struggling to sit up properly and breath, coughing a few times. Snufkin looked back at him as this one knelt in front of him, his smile getting wider.

“What do we have here?” He asked, pleased to see fear settling into Snufkin’s eyes as he looked around him in confusion. “Looks like it’s finally just us.” He sing sang maniacally. “You don’t look so good.”

Snufkin felt his heart drop as he slowly realized what had happened, his eyes widening. He’d been right on assuming that the man was responsible of his illness. He must have been watching them all the time, waiting for him to pass out and for an occasion to isolate him.

Snufkin felt even sicker, his stomach painful, as fear of what the man would do to him increased tenfold.

“You waited for soooo long for this moment.” The man sighed with satisfaction. “You’ve been quite the stubborn one, you know. Even my dear Mymble didn’t last that long with less amount of that drug in her food.”

Snufkin’s eyes widened again for a moment, as he took in the shock of the revelation. Then, he frowned, his expression turning from pained and shocked, to pure anger. He wished himself to ignore the pain and sick feeling, trying to get to his feet in a fit of rage. He helped himself getting up, hands grabbing the tree behind his back and helping pulling him up on wobbly legs.

“You still don’t want to understand, don’t you?” The man huffed as he watched him get up with an annoyed expression. “You can’t win.” He spat at Snufkin with disdain. “Once I’m done with you, you’re sister will be next.” He gave Snufkin a cold grin. “Maybe I’ll even spare her to have a little more fun.”

He stopped for a moment, enjoying Snufkin’s angered expression, still looking at him with his sickly grin.

“Once they’ll realize you’re gone, they’ll all think you ran away and abandoned them, just like all your fathers did. How fitting for a mumrik like you.” He mocked. “I might even enjoy watching them suffer a little more. Maybe I’ll kill a few of them the same way. And when I’ll be done with all of them, I’ll get back to Mymble. She’ll be heartbroken but I’ll be there to make her forget about all of you little pests.”

“I won’t let you hurt them.” Snufkin snapped, trying his best to stay up as he gripped tightly on the tree for support.

“You really think you can do anything to save them now?” The man laughed maniacally. “You fool. You’re in no condition to get away from me now.”

Snufkin spat in his face in response. 

It was the last straw for the man. He grabbed Snufkin’s throat again, holding him in the air with one hand, keeping him above the ground and against the tree. His expression was dark, filled with a dark, extreme, anger. Snufkin’s paws flew to the arm of the man, trying to get it off, to fight against it, claws piercing into the man’s skin.

“You’ve been pissing me off for so long.” He barked, giving a cruel smile at Snufkin as this one was gasping for air. “You smarter than your sister and all those little pests, always getting in my way and stopping me. This time, nobody will be there to save you. I’ll make sure they never find your body.”

Snufkin couldn’t breath. He wanted to argue back, to win some more time, despite knowing that no one would probably notice his disappearance until morning, but he could form no words. He silently prayed for someone, anyone, to come find him before it was too late. He knew that if nobody came, he had no chance of getting away from him. He couldn’t let this man hurt him and his family. He couldn’t let him win.

Suddenly, he gasped again, feeling something cold cutting through his clothes and into him. He couldn’t look, still held up by the man’s hand and struggling to breath, but he knew that the man had just stabbed him with a knife of sort.

“What is that?” The man said smugly, approaching his face from Snufkin’s with a sickly satisfied expression. “You don’t have anything to say anymore, do you? Don’t worry, I’ll take good care of your mother once you’re all gone.”

With that, Snufkin gasped again, feeling the knife cutting deeper into his stomach. He could feel his own, hot, blood soaking through his clothes. His vision was becoming more and more blurry by the second. He tried to fight it, to force himself to stay awake.

The man was enjoying the pained expression and soft noises of Snufkin, grinning evilly, until a scream pierced through his ears, followed by more screams and cries of Snufkin’s name. The man’s head snapped to look behind him, feeling a sudden panic rising inside of him as he saw Little My and the majority of her siblings at the opening of the little clearing he was in.

Little My was staring at them in shock, her eyes wide and filled with fear as she looked back and forth between him and her brother. Her paws were over her mouth, shaking at the bloody sight in front of her. Behind her, the children that had followed her were in the same state. They were crying, some still crying out for their brother as the other sobbed, clutching to each others in fear.

The man didn’t have time to process what was happening as he heard fast approaching footsteps from the other direction, a man looking strangely similar to Snufkin appearing from in between the trees.

Joxter stood there for a moment, taking in the sight in front of him. His eyes snapped from the Man, holding Snufkin by the throat with one hand and stabbing him with his other, to Little My and her siblings crying and calling out to their brother. By the time they had noticed him and started calling out “JoxterPappa”, he was already moving again.

In less than a second, the man was pushed to the ground, the sudden movement causing him to lose hold of Snufkin’s throat and the knife. Snufkin, now released from his grasp, fell hard to the ground, curling on himself as he gasped for air, moaning slightly in pain as each breath made the knife, still deep inside of him, move.

The man was handled quickly, turned so he was facing the ground, and sat on by someone else that he hadn’t realized had arrived while he was pinned to the floor.

Joxter hurried to his son’s side once he was sure MoominPappa had a good hold on the man, leaving him to handle him. MoominMamma quickly joined him, kneeling next to him in front of Snufkin and starting to examine him without touching him yet.

Joxter could hear Little My running to him, her shaking paws grabbing his clock tightly as she looked at her brother with them, soon followed by all her siblings joining around them, still clutching to each others, staying eerily quiet around them.

They all waited with bated breath for MoominMamma’s instructions.

Snufkin meanwhile was still curled on himself, fighting to get his breath back and willing the pain away. The pain of the wound and around his neck were amplified by the pain from his illness and by his dizziness.

Joxter looked on as he waited for MoominMamma to say something, his tail trashing worryingly behind him. His son was pale, much too pale. He had black circles around his eyes, much stronger than the ones he had quickly noticed on Little My’s face. His eyes were slightly opened, as Snufkin tried his best to stay awake, unfocused and full of pain. He had bruises around his neck, showing just how much strength the man had put into strangling him. The knife, still inside of him, was woving with each pained breath he took, letting out more blood by the second and letting it soak onto his clock more, slowly trailing to the ground.

Finally, MoominMamma sighed, only letting her tail, slightly flickering, show her agitation. She turned to Joxter with a serious expression, one that told him of the gravity of the situation and instructed him to take Snufkin, carefully, and carry him to MymbleMamma’s house quickly but without jolting him too much or letting him pass out. She then instructed Little My and her siblings to go back home, as they would be faster than them, and prepare exactly what she would need, such as a first aid kit, clean blankets, and boil water.

Before she could do anything else, a few of the children asked her what they were going to do with the man. MoominPappa was the one to answer, forcing the man to get up while keeping a firm hold of his arms in his back. He explained that he would take him back to the Valley to get him into jail. The children looked unsure around them, looking between the man and Snufkin as if they weren’t sure what to do.

Eventually, one of the children asked if they could follow him to be sure that he wouldn’t escape and hurt anyone again. MoominPappa and MoominMamma looked at each other, then at Joxter, before nodding and agreeing with them to let a few of them go with the moomin.

With everyone agreeing on their role, they all got to the task at hand. Little My and most of her siblings ran back to the house, the rest following MoominPappa as he pushed the man on the path back to the Valley. At that point, the man was rambling angrily about how he was so close to killing that little pest and how he’d made everything fail. 

While everyone was going, Joxter carefully slid his arms under Snufkin, slowly scooping him up, apologizing when he moaned in pain. MoominMamma hovered nearby, telling him to stop or slow down when she thought it was needed, making sure they wouldn’t be hurting Snufkin more than needed.

As they made they slow way back, Joxter and Mamma kept talking to Snufkin, trying to reassure him that he would be fine, that it was all over now, and that they would take care of him and everyone. They tried to sound as reassuring as they could, not showing how panicked they were. They could feel their heart break in millions of pieces as they heard Snufkin’s little moans of pain and fight for breath turning into pained, broken sobs. Joxter squeezed his paws around his son’s arm and leg a little tighter, trying to comfort him and give him a sense of safety as he felt his tears soaking his clock, adding to the blood already covering it.

When they arrived at home, they were met with all the children and Little My, anxiously waiting for them. They had told the others that had stayed with their mother about the situation and had prepared everything MoominMamma had asked for.

MoominMamma immediately set to work, instructing Joxter to set Snufkin on the table, on a blanket, slowly lowering him on it and wincing at the weak moans that escaped the now barely conscious Snufkin. MoominMamma ordered him around, needing help to get the knife out without making him bleed out, while Little My took a chair and hopped on the table, sitting next to her brother’s head. She tried her best to distract Snufkin while the two others worked, trying to keep him awake as long as possible and to reassure him that they would all be fine now, she patted his head, getting his hair out of his face as she tried to sooth him. Meanwhile, most of the children stood around, not too close as not to be in their way as they hurried around to patch their brother, waiting anxiously.

It took a long, painful, time for MoominMamma to get Snufkin patched up. Not only the wound caused by the knife was really deep and really close to anything vital, but he had bruises all over his body and a few other untreated cuts that needed to be cleaned and patched up.

MoominMamma checked on him one last time before allowing Joxter to carefully carry him to his bed to let him rest, frowning as she put a paw to his forehead. She didn’t say anything about it however, nodding to Joxter when he reached out to his unconscious son, who had passed out not long after they had pulled the knife out, to take him in his arms again.

As he did so, all the children stared at MoominMamma and him, staying silent, as if afraid of what would happened if they said anything. MoominMamma quickly reassured them that Snufkin would be fine, only precising that he would need a long time to recover but that he would be fine in the end. She smiled as they all sighed in relief, some of them crying more and collapsing in each other’s arms. Little My gave her a silent question, looking toward her mother’s room and back at her. MoominMamma nodded and announced to everyone that she would go take care of their mother.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading so far! I hope you're enjoying the story.
> 
> Poor Snufkin, I almost feel bad for hurting him so much... almost :3
> 
> But, hey! At least, after some angst and hurt, you get some good comfort  
> (coming soon)


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoops I totally forgot to post the next chapter ^^'
> 
> Sorry about that. Here you go!

MoominMamma made her way to MymbleMamma’s room, greeting the children in there and letting them know about their brother’s condition before instructing them to join the other to go to bed. Before they went, however, one of them stopped at her feet, looking at her timidly. Mamma asked her what was wrong as the others went away. Understanding that the girl wanted to talk to her, she took a sit on the chair next to Mymble, pulling her into her lap and letting her hug her for a moment.

Finally feeling calm enough to talk, the girl then went on to talk about everything that had happened to them since the man had entered the house and since Little My and Snufkin had come home, mentioning to MoominMamma the events of the last day, just before the incident of the night. She asked Mamma if Little My would be alright too, as she was hurt too, to which Mamma assured her that she would be fine, that she would take a look at all of them in the morning to make sure all of them were fine.

Joxter took Snufkin back to his room, walking slowly as to not hurt him. Little My and all the children following him quietly. The silence was the worst part for him, he was used to the Mymble’s house being full of screams and cries, the children always running around even come bedtime. The fact that they were now all silently following him, even Little My, leaving Snufkin’s pained breathing the only noise in the house, was really worrying and unnerving.

Little My quickly ran ahead of him with two of her sisters when they arrived in the bedroom, jumping on the bed and pulling the sheets out, making room for Joxter to lay Snufkin on the bed. Joxter didn’t say anything about it, slowly setting his son in the bed and letting the girls tuck the cover back over him. Snufkin seemed to relax a little once nicely tucked in a warm and comfortable bed.

After making sure he would be comfortable, Joxter instructed the children to go to their bed, fighting off weak complains that they wanted to stay up until their brother woke up. They quickly obeyed, each of them getting to their own bed, and turned to face Joxter, still standing by Snufkin’s bed, Little My sitting on the bed next to her brother. Joxter sighed as he understood that they weren’t ready to sleep yet, thinking for a moment before smiling gently and offering them to tell them of his winter’s adventures to help them fall asleep.

By the time all the children had fallen asleep, even Little My had succumbed to the call of sleep, falling asleep while clinging to Snufkin’s arm. Joxter sat on the other side of the bed, stroking Snufkin’s hair gently. He’d never seen them so weak and fragile before.

Snufkin had recovered some colors already, his breathing a little easier after MoominMamma’s professional treatment, but his face was still pale, dark circles around his eyes and a pained expression on his face, tiny painful noises escaping his mouth from time to time.

Little My herself looked much smaller than usual, curled up around her brother’s arm. She had dark circles around her eyes too, although a little less darker than her brother’s. She looked pale and scared as she slept, her body shaking as she clung to her brother. He could see her wincing in pain when she curled on herself more, knowing immediately that he would have to make sure that MoominMamma took a look at her when she would be awake.

Joxter let his mind wander as he looked after his son and his gremlin sister. His thoughts went from worrying about MymbleMamma’s condition, to what could have happened to all of them while he was gone.

He’d never felt such a strong urge to come home, such a bad feeling, than when he’d arrived at MoominHouse earlier that day. The first time the bad feeling had appeared was when he’d realized that Snufkin’s tent wasn’t set up by the bridge, as it usually was at that time of the year. He’d made his way to MoominHouse, getting a nice breakfast from MoominMamma, and she’d explained to him that Snufkin and Little My had gone on a trip together. The news made his heart jump, feeling as if something was wrong already. She’d then proceeded to tell him about the letters they’d left for him in Little My’s room. Of course, Mamma hadn’t touched it, not even to look at what it was about no matter how much she wanted to know, leaving him to check it on his own and decide if he needed to tell her or not.

The note they’d left for him was short, a quick apology for not being there to greet him and then a short explanation on what was going on, joined with the letter from their siblings and another quick note detailing what they’d made out of the messy handwriting. They’d only explained a little about Mymble being sick, and their siblings being stuck with an abusive boyfriend of hers. They’d left him a note to tell him that they would go back home to investigate and try to help but asking him, if they weren’t back by the time he was back, to come find them.

The full note and the letter from the children had made him feel horrible. The bad feeling making his chest tight as he worried about what was happening to her dear Mymble and their dear children. MoominMamma had told him that they’d been gone for about two weeks already, maybe even more, and he feared, if they weren’t back yet, that something terrible might be happening.

He’d thought about it as he read the note over and over again, wondering if he shouldn’t just tell the others about it or if he should go ahead alone. He quickly realized, however, that if Mymble was sick, he would at least need MoominMamma to help treat her. With that in mind, he’d immediately went back downstairs to tell everything to her, allowing MoominPappa who had followed him down as he’d heard him run down the stairs to listen and agreeing to let both of them come along.

He’d started to go without waiting for them at first, not wanting to lose precious time, but they’d joined him quickly on the way. They’d only told Moomin about a quick trip to Mymble’s house with him, making sure he wouldn’t burn the house down while they were gone, before running after him. They had to make sure he stopped midway to make sure he ate something and allow all of them to get a little rest before they went back on their way, knowing fully well that they would arrive in the dead of night.

A chill ran down his spin as he remembered the piercing scream he’d heard as he approached the path to their home, immediately recognizing it as Little My’s, then followed by more screams and cries of Snufkin’s name. He’d frozen for half a second at first, then, the next thing he knew, he was standing in front of that man, holding Snufkin against a tree by his throat, a knife cutting deep into his son’s stomach, blood soaking into him; then he was glancing to Little My and her siblings, at the other side of the clearing, crying and sobbing as they clung to each others. Everything had happened so quickly, one moment he was looking at the scene in front of him, the other he was pushing the man down, his claws cutting into him until he had him pinned down on the floor.

MoominPappa had quickly come after him and he didn’t need a long moment to think before he was on the man as well, letting Joxter know with a sharp nod that he had him and he should go to his son.

He wished he’d been faster to come back.

He pressed a kiss to Snufkin’s forehead, frowning as it was much too hot, before resuming stroking his hair. He knew he’d have to ask MoominMamma to get him some medicine for the fever but he couldn’t leave them alone, even if he was not far away. He would wait for MoominMamma to come to him when she’d be done with his dear Mymble to tell her.

When MoominMamma came to find him, he’d managed to doze off a bit, curled around Snufkin and Little My to protect them and give them some comfort, his tail wrapped around them on top of the blanket.

She didn’t mean to wake him up but her soft footsteps were enough to get him out of his doze. He stirred sleepily and sat up on the bed, glancing down at the two sleeping forms to make sure he hadn’t woken them. He stood up to join MoominMamma by the door, both of them wanting to avoid waking anyone up.

She explained to him Mymble’s condition. She told him that she feared she’d been poisoned by the man, but that it wasn’t anything too worrying as she’d already given her a cup of medicine and help her get cleaned up and put on clean clothes and already seemed much better. Joxter felt a little reassured that Mamma would be able to heal his wife, but he couldn’t help to feel the rage, the helplessness rise within him.

She told him that he could go watch on her while she would stay with the children. Joxter looked back at them before nodding. He wanted to stay with them but he still hadn’t had the chance to see his dear wife, if MoominMamma was willing to keep an eye on them while he was with Mymble, then he could allow it.

Before going to Mymble’s side, Joxter mentioned Snufkin’s fever to MoominMamma, asking her if she could have a look and give him some medicine. From the look she gave him, he could tell what she was thinking. She nodded, promising to give medicine to Snufkin and to come find him if anything happened or if his son woke up.

With that, Joxter went to Mymble’s side, looking one last time over his shoulder at his sleeping kids as he made his way out, MoominMamma taking a sit on the bed where he’d been staying, taking over to stroke Snufkin’s hair softly.

During the night, Joxter would keep walking back and forth, alternating between watching over his wife, and watching over the children while MoominMamma gave another cup of medicine to Mymble. Joxter would often notice a few of the children watching their siblings and him from their bed, asking if they would really be alright after that when he approached them to ask what was wrong. He’d always have to reassure them, yes they would be alright, and tell them more stories to help them get back to sleep.

And, even through all the night, Snufkin didn’t wake.

The next morning, as everyone started to emerge, Joxter, who had fallen asleep by Mymble’s side after MoominMamma’s assurance that she would be there for the kids and wake him up if he was needed or if his son woke up, checked on his dear wife. He quickly changed the cloth on her forehead, giving her a small kiss. She already looked much better than when he’d seen her after MoominMamma’s examination. She was less pale and could breath with less trouble.

Then, he made his way to the bedroom. Mamma was waiting for him, sewing peacefully by the window next to Snufkin’s bed. He made his way in the room, quietly greeting back MoominMamma before looking around.

All the children were gone, even Little My, but Snufkin himself was still laying in bed, still deeply unconscious even now, with a damp cloth on his forehead just like his mother. He was about to panic and ask where all the others, and particularly his dear little gremlin, had gone to when he heard a noise from the kitchen.

MoominMamma must have noticed his worry as she immediately explained that Little My and the others were eating their breakfast in there. Before he could ask anything, she continued to tell him that he had taken care of Little My’s injuries, that they’d both known she’d hidden from them, and had already managed to give some medicine to Snufkin, even as he slept.

Joxter sighed, feeling a tension he hadn’t noticed was there relax. He approached the bed, sitting next to Snufkin’s head and resting his back against the headboard. MoominMamma set her sewing on the windowsill before getting up. She excused herself, announcing that she would bring him his breakfast and go watch over Mymble for a while.

It didn’t take long for her to come back with the promised breakfast and a cup of medicine that she asked Joxter to try to make his son drink. He thanked her gratefully, watching her go before starting to eat. 

He was usually the type to eat as much as he could, but today, he found himself picking at his food. Mamma had managed to make a good breakfast out of what little the Mymble had left in her kitchen but he didn’t really feel like eating, his eyes flying back to Snufkin everytime he took a small bite.

Snufkin was looking better than the last night but he was still looking much too fragile for his liking. His breathing was still a little laboured at times, but it was getting better. He was less pale than before, and looked a little less in pain.

Joxter couldn’t see his body, as it was hidden under the blanket, but he could remember the state of it. His son’s body, as they’d taken off his smock and shirt to get at the wound, had been covered in bruises and cuts, some older than others, all over him. They’d had to get his pants off too, to get them washed off as the blood had soak through it as well, and to examine if he had more bruises there. He did.

The image of his son’s battered body coming back to him was enough to convince him that he didn’t need to eat more. He put the plate back on the tray Mamma had come with and looked back at his son for a moment. He had noticed how skinny he’d become and couldn’t help but want to wake him up, to get him to eat something right now, make sure he’d be healthy and comfortable. But he couldn’t, not unless Snufkin woke up by himself.

Joxter sighed again, taking the cup of medicine in one hand before turning to face his son fully. He slowly slid his free arm under Snufkin’s shoulders, lifting him up carefully. Snufkin made a pained noise, his breath hitching, before opening his eyes slightly.

Joxter stopped. He watched as Snufkin’s unfocused eyes searched around, until they landed on him. He wasn’t sure if his son could see him or not yet, his eyes still unfocused.

“Hey kitten.” Joxter whispered softly, testing to see if Snufkin would react to his voice.

“D- Dad?” Snufkin breathed, coughing a little after speaking and wincing at the pain it brought to him. He was about to try to say something else but Joxter cut him before he could.

“Here.” He said as he put the cup to Snufkin’s lips. “MoominMamma made you some medicine.”

Snufkin didn’t protest, drinking the liquid quickly. He seemed to be thirsty so Joxter handed him his own cup of tea. He could have another later, his son needed it more. He thought about trying to feed him some of his breakfast for a moment but thought against it as he remembered that Snufkin was still sick and might not be able to eat something like that yet. He made a note to tell MoominMamma about it later, when she would come back.

“Mom?” Snufkin asked, already falling asleep again and trying to fight against it as his father brought him to his chest, nuzzling his hair gently as he started to purr.

“She’ll be better soon. MoominMamma already got her feeling much better.” Joxter reassured in his hair. “You should rest now. We’ll take care of everything now. We’re here. I’m here.”

Snufkin hummed, relaxing in his father’s warm arms, letting him embrace him and nuzzling him without protesting. He felt his eyes closing, his father’s purrs lulling him back into peaceful dreams.

Joxter kept him close to him for a long moment, unwilling to let go of his dear son.

He was starting to doze off when a small voice spoke up at the end of the bed.

“Did he wake up yet?” Little My asked, climbing on the bed. She winced, the pain from her own bruises still there despite MoominMamma’s pain medicine.

Joxter nodded. “He did.” He stroked his hair fondly, sadly.

She nodded to herself, sighing in relief quietly, but not quietly enough for Joxter to not hear. He gave her a knowing smile, letting go of Snufkin from one arm to invite her in. She didn’t even hesitate, crawling until she was on his brother’s legs and in Joxter’s arms as he closed them around the both of them.

“He’ll be fine now. You’ll all be fine.” He mumbled, feeling her grip on his smock tightening. “We’re here for you.”

She didn’t say anything, letting him embrace her and her brother until she, too, fell asleep in her brother’s lap, against Joxter.

He would have loved to keep them close for longer, but MoominMamma stepped back in the room. He carefully laid the two of them back on the bed, pulling the blanket over them, before turning back to Mamma.

“Mymble is awake if you’d like to see her.” She said gently as she took the tray, not mentioning the leftover food. “I’ll get this back in the kitchen and come back to watch over them.”

“You haven’t slept at all.” Joxter noted, glancing towards the door as he saw a few faces peeking in. “You should get some rest while the children watch over them.” He proposed.

She was about to argue when the children, nodding to themselves, came in the room, quietly sitting on the closest beds of the room. They smiled at Mamma and Joxter, promising to keep a good watch on them. MoominMamma couldn’t say no to them, sighing in defeat before kissing each of them on the head and heading out, Joxter doing the same, with an extra demand to them, asking them to come tell him or wake MoominMamma if they woke up again, to which they all nodded.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading. Sorry again for forgetting to update it.
> 
> It's finally time for some good comfort but it's still slow :3
> 
> At least now they're all safe. And Mamma gets to rest too now.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think I keep forgetting to post the next chapters. Whoops.
> 
> Anyway! Here you go! 
> 
> Enjoy :3

When Joxter entered MymbleMamma’s room, he sighed in relief as he was greeted by a Mymble sitting peacefully on her bed, a tray of food on her lap, and eating slowly. She turned to him as he walked to her, smiling at him as he sat next to her on the bed.

“Good morning dear.” She said casually, only a sad edge in her voice letting him know that she’d been informed of the situation.

“Good morning.” He replied awkwardly, hesitating for a moment before launching himself into her arms, all the worry and guilt hitting him suddenly, letting the floodgates open without his consent.

She carefully set the tray on her nightstand, so that she wouldn’t spill anything, and wrapped her arms around her now crying husband. She whispered soft reassurances and apologies to him, stroking his messy hair and rubbing his back comfortingly.

“You really scared all of us, you know?” Joxter scolded when he recovered enough to stop crying.

“I know. I’m sorry my kitten.” She apologized again, nuzzling his hair. “I’ll be more careful from now on. I promise.”

Snufkin woke up again in the late afternoon, feeling weak and dizzy, his entire body hurting, but at least, he wasn’t feeling as sick anymore. He could feel a cold, damp, cloth on his head, feeling all the bandages around his wounded body. He could hear small chatter around him, quiet footsteps coming in and out of the room. He waited for a moment, his mind still blurry, before deciding to open his eyes when the voices went away.

There was a quick shuffling on the bed as he tried to let his eyes adjust to the light of the room. His head was hurting a lot, throbbing for a moment, but calming down after a minute.

“Hey!” Someone called out, a blurry figure appearing in front of his eyes. “Come on! Say something.” She said with frustration, but a hidden tone of worry underneath it.

“Little My, dear, please calm down.” Another voice sighed, footsteps getting closer to him. “Give him time, he just woke up.”

“Mamma?” He asked weakly as MoominMamma appeared in his vision, along with Little My’s face as his eyes finally adjusted enough for him to be able to see things better.

“Hello dear.” She smiled gently, a paw running through his hair. “How are you feeling?”

Snufkin looked between the two of them for a moment, still a bit confused about the situation as he couldn’t remember much of what had happened to him. He could remember what had happened during the day, he could remember feeling himself fainting, but he couldn’t remember what happened after that, things were blurry.

“Horrible.” He finally coughed, his throat still feeling much too tight and painful.

MoominMamma hummed, still stroking his hair soothingly as he rode out the pain that his coughing brought. “I wouldn’t have it any other way.” She said calmly. “You were hurt so badly, I’m afraid it will take a while before you feel better.” She explained.

“Mamma…” Snufkin started again, hesitant and trying to pause to get back his breathing. “Wha- What happened?”

He felt fear rise as he watched their expression change. They frowned, looking at each other for a moment, before MoominMamma turned back to him, resuming her soothing motion with her paw as she noticed Snufkin’s fear and confusion. Little My stared at him, searching for a moment, before she sighed and started to talk.

“You don’t remember what happened?” She asked.

Snufkin shook his head no, wincing and sucking in a breath as the pain and dizziness got worse.

“I thought it would happen.” MoominMamma sighed quietly. “Don’t worry dear, it’s normal. It can happen sometimes after a traumatic event or after being hurt. You’ll remember soon enough.” She explained as they both looked at her in confusion.

After that, Little My and MoominMamma tried their best to explain to Snufkin what had happened that he couldn’t remember. Snufkin didn’t quite know how to feel about everything he was told. He could feel like he remembered it somehow, but it all seemed so blurry, so unreal, he didn’t know what to feel.

MoominMamma left, after they’d finished explaining, to prepare more medicine for Snufkin, and food for everyone, and tell his father that he was awake. As she left, the children came wandering back in, rushing to Snufkin’s bed but stopping at a decent distance from it to not overwhelm him.

They asked him how he was feeling, looking very worried about him, and, although Snufkin reassured them he would be fine, they kept apologizing to him and Little My. They both tried to comfort them, assuring them it wasn’t their fault and it could have been much worse but they began to cry, still apologizing. Finally they managed to calm them down, letting them climb into bed with them and hugging them to comfort them.

Little My stood up after a while, when all the cries had died down, and put her paws on her hips. She told their siblings that MoominMamma was making food and that they should go see if she needed any help while they left Snufkin rest. They all seemed excited at the idea, following her as she made her way out of the room.

Snufkin looked at them as they left, thinking sadly. He’d hoped that they’d feel better once the man left, but they were still very shaken up by all the events, and feeling very guilty for putting them in danger by asking them for help. He hoped that now, everything would get better. He didn’t like the noise and the running around much, but he’d much better prefer that than seeing them like that.

“Snufkin!” A voice said, drawing him back to reality as his father came in the room.

He walked quickly towards him, trying to stop himself from running at him, and wrapped his arms around him. Snufkin returned the hug, wincing as his movements made his body hurt more, before letting himself relax in the comfort of his father’s arms. He could feel him shaking a little, but slowly relax as well.

“You got our letter.” Snufkin mumbled into his arms. “You came back right on time…”

“I wouldn’t say ‘right on time’.” Joxter shook his head as he pulled away slightly, a paw on his shoulder as the other came to rest on his cheek, stroking it fondly as he looked at his son sadly. “If I’d been just a little faster…”

It was Snufkin’s turn to shake his head, slightly as to not get himself as dizzy as he did before. He tightened the grip on his father’s smock, remembering what he’d been told about the events.

“If you’d been a second later…” He felt his throat tightened as well, tears welling up as fear overtook him at the realization of how close it had been.

“Hey!” Joxter shook him lightly, tilting his head up with his paw to make him look at him. “Calm down. It’s over now.” He pulled him back against him, whispering reassurances to him for a moment as his son shook.

“I’m glad you came.” Snufkin mumbled in his shoulder.

Joxter nuzzled his hair in response, keeping him close to him. Eventually, they both fell asleep like that, Joxter exhausted from the eventful night and Snufkin, weak and sick, crying himself to sleep.

When he woke up again, Snufkin found himself still wrapped in Joxter’s arms. There was another pair of arms around him, much smaller, around his chest, clutching the fabric of his nightclothes tightly. When he looked down, he smiled sadly at the sight of his big sister, Little My, sleeping against him, her face holding a worried expression.

There was a noise next to him and he slowly, carefully, raised his head, trying not to wake anyone. MoominMamma was next to him, she was walking towards him as she’d been sitting on a chair a little farther away from the bed, sewing something.

She smiled at him, letting her paw run through his hair for a moment, her eyes looking at him fondly, before she pulled away to get something. She brought a mug to his lips, encouraging him silently to drink it.

Snufkin didn’t have to question it. As much as he felt anxious at the idea of drinking something made by someone else after what happened, he would never go against MoominMamma. He trusted her more than anybody else.

Her paw returned to his hair as the other one helped him drink the medicine, lingering there even after she’d put away the mug on the tray again.

Snufkin let himself be lulled back to sleep by her soothing motion, giving her a thankful smile as he let his head rest against his father’s shoulder again. He could feel her as she leaned in to kiss his forehead before heading back to her chair and sewing.

The next few days were spent in much the same manner, Snufkin couldn’t do much more than lay in his bed and sleep the day away, occasionally waking up to talk a little and get some medicine and soup in him. The children were coming in and out of the room all day, alternating between coming to see how their brother was doing, staying with MymbleMamma while she recovered, and following Little My and MoominMamma around to help with the house chores and making food. Joxter, him, spent all his his time between MymbleMamma and Snufkin, mostly staying with his son as MymbleMamma was recovering well. He’d tell stories here and there to the children when they’d come while their brother was sleeping or when it was time to sleep.

The children were starting to get better, running around a little more and being a little louder again as their ran left and right to check on everyone, but they were still much too quiet for Joxter’s liking. They were still obviously scared of what could happen if they did something wrong.

Little My was getting better as well, her bruises slowly healing but the pain finally decreasing with MoominMamma’s pain medicine. She tried her best to act as she always did, brash and loud, but it was obvious for anyone who knew her that she wasn’t as well as she tried to pretend. She was scared, worried about her brother and her family. She was scarred from the events, the scene of her brother being held by his throat, a knife cutting into his stomach as blood dripped under him, haunting her nights, coming back each time she looked at her brother. She spent most of her time trying to distract their siblings or keeping watch over Snufkin, sometimes going to their mother to make sure she was really alright.

MoominPappa had come back with the rest of the children and the Inspector. He’d told Moomin about Mymble’s sickness and warned him that they’d be away for a little longer.

The Inspector didn’t stay long, only quickly taking everyone’s statements, making sure to write everything down and being really careful and patient with Snufkin and Little My, still shaken up enough to need time to explain the worst of what happened to them. Once he’d talked with everyone, he quickly excused himself, needing to be back to the station to write down his report and promising them all to make sure that the man would never see the sun ever again.

MoominMamma spent her time taking care of everyone, sewing clothes while she watched over them and cooking with the children’s help. She prepared medicine for Mymble and Snufkin, pain medicine for Little My and her brother. MoominPappa and her tried their best to keep the children happy and distracted when their siblings and parents needed rest.

Eventually, when MymbleMamma had recovered enough to be able to walk around and help with the children, MoominPappa decided to go home, promising to take care of Moomin and the house while MoominMamma stayed there to make sure Snufkin would recover as well.

Mymble, once she was better, immediately went to see Snufkin and Little My. She tried to apologise many times to them, for being so blind and for letting someone like this man in the house and letting him hurt them all, but they, once again, quickly reassured her that it wasn't her fault and that they didn’t blame her at all, pointing out that he was quite the actor and that, had he not already hurt them and had they not received the letter from their siblings, they probably would have been fooled too.

She made sure to come see Snufkin more often but letting Joxter and MoominMamma take care of him, guilt making her prefer to leave his well being to them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading so far :D  
> I hope you enjoy it so far and will enjoy the next parts.
> 
> Poor Snuf, I keep making him suffer... But I can't help it! He's such a good material for angst and hurt/comfort!  
> And to my defense he DOES get his comfort moment and some sweet fluff :3


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here you go! Another chapter!
> 
> It's time for them to go home.

Snufkin was getting better as time went by, but it was so slow. MoominMamma had to warn him that his injury could still hurt him once he’d be healed, and that he might have trouble walking with it.   
He was okay with it, reminding everyone that he prefered to be alive even if it meant a life of limping. Of course, he wasn’t really fine with it, but he did mean it when he said that he prefered that to dying. Who wouldn’t?

At least, now, he wasn’t sick anymore. His fever, the dizziness and nausea were gone, thanks to MoominMamma’s medicine and care. He could sit on his bed with a minimum of pain, granted he couldn’t get up yet and was still stuck in his bed all day.

He spent most of his time sleeping, his injury and the lack of mobility making it hard for him to do much anything else. 

His nights were plagued with nightmares of the events, leaving him shaken and crying when he woke up in the arms of whoever was watching over him at the moment.

Everyone was worried about him. He wasn’t one to stay inside all day and sleep the days away. He usually felt trapped the longer he stayed inside and the fact that he wasn’t showing any sign of wanting to go outside was the most worrying for everyone around him.

MoominMamma waited until she was sure everyone was alright, Snufkin’s injury mostly healed, before she decided to go home, promising to Snufkin that she wouldn’t tell Moomin about what happened to him before he came back. She made sure to leave instructions on how to better help Snufkin and how to treat his wound if it opened again, or if it hurted more than it should, to the Mymble and Joxter. She left them after giving Snufkin and Little My a good hug and nuzzling their hair, and with one last word to Mymble to reassure her and try to remind her that nothing that had happened was her fault.

It took a long time, a few weeks at most, for Snufkin to be able to walk again. He still needed support and was limping badly, but at least he could get around the house on his own, helping himself with the walls or letting his father or mother help him. He wasn’t much better than before, still exhausted and restless, but now he could move again, and it was a big step for him.

Little My hovered around each time he got up, not being able to do much more than follow him and watch over him as he made his slow way around. She was uncharacteristically nice towards him, staying silent most of the time and making sure not to talk too loudly around him, although she did the same even with their siblings, not wanting to remind any of them of the screamings of the man.

Joxter stayed around as much as he could while still taking care of the others with Mymble, trying to distract the Horde into being loud and chaotic again, trying to prove to everyone that they were safe now. He spent a lot of his time with Snufkin, either watching him sleep or trying to talk with him, talking about adventures he’d had and what Snufkin would do once he’d be better enough to go on adventure again.

He was particularly worried with Snufkin’s lack of interest for adventures or simple walks outside. It wasn’t like him. Usually he’d be itching to go out by now, so much that he’d never leave any occasion to sleep near the window or on the porch pass him by, now though, he’d barely acknowledge the outside world, barely looking out the window with a blank stare.

Little My did her best to get him interested to going out again, often talking about MoominHouse and their friends waiting for them back there, how much fun they would have going on adventures again with them. It didn’t do much but talking about them did make him look like he wanted to see them again. It wasn’t much but it was still something.

MymbleMamma and Joxter kept a close eye on their son and all the children. They made sure to shower them with attention to make them forget what they’d been through. The children slowly started getting better, getting back to being loud and chaotic, but still less than before and always becoming more quiet when Snufkin, and even sometimes Little My, was around. Little My was trying her best to act like nothing had happened in front of everyone, trying to appear strong for them, but she would always look worried around Snufkin.

It took a few more weeks before Snufkin was finally deemed apte to make his way back to Moomin Valley, granted Joxter would need to go with him and Little My to make sure they would be alright and Snufkin wouldn’t overwork himself.

The three got a goodbye hug from MymbleMamma and each of the children, along with a ‘safe travel’ wish. Mymble quietly whispered something in Joxter’s ear as she hugged him before letting go and helping him put on his backpack.

Little My and Snufkin seemed worried about leaving their family but ultimately relieved to be going back to their second home and to a somewhat normal life.

Joxter helped Snufkin walk, his limping making his body hurt the longer he walked.

It wasn’t long before they passed by a familiar spot in the woods, closer to Mymble’s house, that made the three of them stop and shiver. They all stared at the obvious dark spot on the dirty ground in front of a big tree, frozen at the memories.

It was Little My that finally broken them out of their transe, tugging at Joxter’s smock and looking at him with pleading eyes. Joxter’s heart tightened at the look on her face. He could tell how hurt she still was from the whole affair and her silent plea to get away from this spot of horrible memories was quickly granted. Joxter slowly made a step forward, slow enough for Snufkin to get back to reality as well and come along, and led them away from it and on the road to a better and brighter future.

The trip was longer than they had anticipated, Snufkin’s limping slowing them a great amount and forcing them to take more break so as to let him get his breathing back. The night came faster than they’d thought, forcing them to stop and set up camp before it got too dark to see. Snufkin and Joxter might have had a good night vision but Little My didn’t, and it would be harder for Snufkin to walk in the dark in his condition. So, they set up camp, Little My and Joxter making sure that Snufkin wouldn’t have to walk too much to find wood for the fire.

All in all, the day and night was quite uneventful, a quick meal, small talk around the fire, and they all settled into the tent, Joxter hugging Snufkin as they went to sleep and Little My tucked in her brother’s arms, all of them snuggling close to each other for reassurance that they were still there.

The next day, they finally arrived in Moomin Valley, after half a day of walking. Snufkin had to look away, focusing on MoominHouse up ahead, as they passed by a few folks, looking at them curiously and worriedly.

Finally arriving on the final path leading to the bridge, they could already see a white figure running towards them, soon accompanied with a cry of Snufkin’s name.

Snufkin finally smiled for the first time in weeks, a real, small, smile, while Little My mocked the young troll running towards them. Joxter smiled softly as he watched their reaction, happy to see his son’s smile again, a genuine one this time.

“Snufkin!” Moomintroll cried as he approached, stopping short in front of them and trying to catch his breath as he looked Snufkin up and down, taking in his appearance.

The group stopped in front of him. Waiting for him to speak. They watched as his eyes looked over Snufkin and darted to Little My and Joxter before going back to Snufkin with a worried expression.

“I knew something had happened…” He started to speak, voice low, before stopping himself and shaking his head. He reached out a paw toward Snufkin before speaking again. “Let’s get you home first. Mamma is making some fish stew for lunch.” He smiled as Snufkin took the offered paw.

Snufkin nodded, squeezing Moomin’s paw gratefully and started walking with him towards the blue tower-like house, still helped by his father and quickly followed by a Little My much more eager to go home now that she knew there would be food.

“Mamma! Snufkin and Little My are back with Mr. Joxter!” Moomin called as they entered the house.

“Oh! Welcome home, dears.” MoominMamma greeted, from the kitchen doorway. “I’m sure you must be hungry after all this walking. Lunch will be ready in a minute.”

“Thank you.” Joxter simply said as they walked to the dining room.

Little My hurried to jump on her chair where she waited eagerly for the meal to arrive. Joxter, on the other hand, made his way to a chair where he helped Snufkin sat down before sitting on the chair next to him. Snufkin sighed in relief as he was finally off his feet, the pain in his stomach finally dimming down to something much more bearable.

Moomin hoovered nearby, hesitating for a moment before going to the kitchen to help his mother with the last of the preparations for the meal.

The meal was nice and filled with small talk, about anything and everything, as if nothing was wrong, as if nothing had ever happened. Moomin kept glancing at Snufkin, worried but trying to keep his distance and not show it too much to not overwhelm his friend. He noticed that Little My and Joxter were keeping a close eye on Snufkin as well, although they would always look away when they noticed Moomin looking at them. He was confused and only more worried, not knowing what happened to them while they were gone and watching them act like that, it was only making him feel worse about it. 

Something bad had happened, he could tell.

When they were finally done eating, MoominMamma hurried to wash the dishes, offering a cup of tea to Snufkin and Joxter before disappearing in the kitchen. MoominPappa ruffled Snufkin’s hair gently before going back to his study to work on his memoirs.

The rest of them made their way to the living room, Snufkin waving off Joxter’s silent offer for help when he stood up, wincing, and started to limp towards the door, quickly followed by Little My and Joxter.

Moomin knew he would have his answers soon, but he didn’t want to rush things. He couldn’t simply push them all to talk. He could already see how much whatever had happened was affecting them by the way they acted. For now, he just silently followed them, sitting on the couch and watching them as Snufkin and Joxter sat at the table, Little My jumping on top of it and sitting there.

MoominMamma soon joined them, three cups of tea in her paws. She set the cup in front of Snufkin and Joxter before taking a seat with them and setting her own cup in front of her.

The room was silent for a moment, as they sipped their tea, Moomin and Little My watching. MoominMamma finally broke the silent with a casual question.

“So, how are you feeling Snufkin?”

“I’m okay.” Snufkin simply replied, short and saying more than what he’d voiced.

MoominMamma nodded, sipping her tea and turning to Little My.

“What about you?”

“I’m perfectly fine.” Little My huffed, annoyed at the question but clearly hiding something.

“And how are the other?”

“They’re fine.” Little My said, softening as she turned back to look at MoominMamma. “They’re more chaotic.”

“Good, good.” MoominMamma nodded thoughtfully.

There was more silence for a while, only Moomin seemed to be in the dark. He wanted to know, he wanted to ask, but he could tell it might upset them if he did. He’d have to wait patiently for them to come to him, no matter how frustrating and worrying it was for him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading this far :)  
> I hope you enjoy it so far.
> 
> Poor Snufkin is not done with this injury yet ;3  
> Will Moomin get to know? Will he stay in the dark longer? Who knows :3c


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here it comes!
> 
> We're finally reaching the end!
> 
> Enjoy!

He could remember when MoominPappa had come back home the day after they’d set off to go check on MymbleMamma who was apparently sick. He’d come back with a bunch of the Mymble’s children, exhausted from the journey and clearly worried about something.

At first, Moomin had been worried, apprehending how the children would act in the house without MoominMamma around to clean after them, but he’d soon realized that he wouldn’t have to worry about them causing any trouble.

It was even more worrying, really, to see the usually extremely chaotic children so eerily calm. They only followed MoominPappa around, silently looking at him. They waited for him to tell them to do something before doing anything, staying sitting on the floor, looking down blankly, when they were told to rest while MoominPappa prepared something for them to eat.

MoominPappa had explained that something had happened and that the situation with the Mymble was a little complicated. He hadn’t said much, but he’d told Moomin that he would have to go back there the next day, to get the children back home and see if he could help. Of course, Moomin had offered to come and help, but MoominPappa had quickly waved him off, almost as if he was suddenly panicking a little at the thought of Moomin coming with them, only using the excuse that it would be best to not crowd the house too much and that they wouldn’t want him to catch whatever sickness Mymble had caught.

Moomin had been unsure then. He knew his father was hiding something from him. He had the feeling there was more to it than just MymbleMamma being sick, and he could feel like something bad had happened there. He couldn’t point out why, but he had a bad feeling about it.

A few days later, when his father had come back home again, he’d asked if everything was alright and why MoominMamma wasn’t back with him. MoominPappa had only vaguely explained that the Mymble was better but that she still needed to rest and that MoominMamma had to stay there to make sure everyone would be alright. He’d mentioned, not saying much about it, that Snufkin and Little My were back there as well and would be staying with their family for a while.

He hadn’t said anything else, not answering Moomin’s question about his friends and their family. He’d only told Moomin that he would have to wait a little longer before they could explain to him what had happened and to not worry about it too much, which, of course, only managed to increase Moomin’s worries.

Now, he really wanted to know. They were finally all back home. He should be able to learn the truth soon. He was starting to fear what he would learn however, but still needed to know.

“You’ll stay with us, Snufkin?” MoominMamma finally broke the silence with a warm invitation. “We’ll prepare the guest bedroom for you.”

“If you don’t mind.” Snufkin said quietly. “Thank you, Mamma.”

Moomin was surprised at how easily Snufkin had accepted to stay inside. He usually always argued to stay outside in his old tent, even in the rain or in a storm, only accepting when he could see how ferocious the storm would be or when Moomin would plead him to stay, using the puppy eyes on him as he knew Snufkin was weak to them.

And that ‘Thank you’... There seemed to be so much more meaning to it than just a simple ‘Thank you’ to an invitation to stay. It was as if it held a deep meaning that only they could understand.

“You must be tired out after such a long journey. Why don’t you go get some rest?” MoominMamma offered to the three at the table. “Let’s get you to the bedroom. I’m sure you could do with a good nap.” She winked at Joxter who smiled softly in return.

“I- Yeah.” Snufkin agreed. “I guess it wouldn’t hurt.” He smiled a little.

“I’ll go prepare the room!” Little My said as she jumped to her feet, taking a moment to look at her brother, as if hesitating, before she said, “I’m sure I’ll be done with everything before you even get to the room!” Hopping down the table and rushing off towards the stairs.

Moomin was about to get up to help them when MoominMamma stopped him. She silently asked him to stay there, indicating that she probably would come talk to him soon. With that, they got up, MoominMamma gently handing an arm to Snufkin for support, which he accepted easily, even more easily when his father nodded to him as they looked at each others.

Moomin watched as they silently made their way towards the stairs, wondering what would happen next. He frowned as he saw Snufkin painfully limp his way up the stairs, leaning quite heavily on MoominMamma as he did. Moomin could swear he’d even caught Snufkin wincing as well, making him worry more for him. 

Snufkin was obviously hurt and in pain. What could possibly have happened? Would he be alright? And why were they all acting so weird? Moomin silently wondered if it all had anything to do with Mymble’s sickness or if it was something totally different.

He wouldn’t have to wait long to get his answers, however, as MoominMamma and MoominPappa made their way down the stairs and towards him. They both sat on each side of the young troll, before announcing that they had to explain to him what happened to the Mymble’s family.

They first explained to him why they hadn’t explained everything to him before, as they didn’t want to worry him and as MoominMamma had promised Snufkin and Little My to not tell Moomin until the situation was better. 

Moomin could guess now why Mamma had signaled him to stay down just now. She’d probably wanted to have a private talk with them, to ask them if she could finally tell Moomin about it.

Then, they started to explain everything that had happened, from Mymble’s sickness, her abusive new boyfriend, to the boyfriend’s attack on Snufkin. They explained how they’d arrived just in time to save the day and how they arrested the man and took him to prison. Then they had to keep an eye on everyone to make sure everything would be fine and everyone would be recovering alright before coming back.

Moomin was petrified by that point. The idea of what they’d all went through simply impossible to process for the young troll. He could only imagine how terrified Snufkin must have been back there, and how Little My must have been as well, seeing her dear little brother being stabbed by that man that kept trying to hurt all of them. It was simply horrible.

Moomin felt sick at the thought of Snufkin being stabbed in front of Little My and their siblings, he could imagine the scene in his mind, the blood sipping through Snufkin’s clothes and slowly dripping onto the ground below, soaking his coat and tainting the man’s hand.

MoominMamma hugged him and reassured him, sensing his worries, that Snufkin and the others would be alright, that they were already doing much better and that, with time and care, they would be fine again. She told him they would need to keep an eye on them carefully to not overwhelm them, and to be there for them, support them.

Later that day, when Moomin made his way to gather Snufkin, Little My and the Joxter for dinner, he stopped dead in the doorway of the guest bedroom. His face softened at the scene in front of him.

Snufkin was laying in bed, curled up on himself, sleeping soundly, his arms around Little My and pressing her against his chest. The small girl was asleep as well, face buried in her brother’s chest. Around them, Joxter’s arms were protectively wrapped, Joxter himself curled behind his son, his tail wrapped protectively over Snufkin’s.

Moomin smiled sadly at the scene. He was happy to see how close they were all now, after so many ups and downs in their relationship after the appearance of Joxter one day and the news of Snufkin’s appartenance, but, something about it made his heart tighten. They had been through so much, they’d struggled so much, it made them look so fragile now.

Joxter opened an eye and peered at him, a silent question to the young troll. Moomin broke out of his mind and quickly whispered, as to not wake his friends up yet, that dinner was served and that he’d come to get them. He hurried to say that they could take their time and that there was no need to wake them up if they wanted to sleep, but Joxter shook his head with a small smile and said they’d come down in a moment. With that Moomin exited the room.

For the next few days, the moomin family tried to entertain Snufkin and Little My, often touching him as if to reassure him that he would be fine, a quick paw running through his hair, ruffling it, a paw on his shoulder or a caress on the cheek, or even, to Moomin’s surprise, warm hugs and kiss to the forehead.

Moomin also found them curled up against each other very often, sometimes dozing off on the porch or when he’d go see if they needed anything. He’d noticed Little My always sticking by her brother and even sleeping with him at night, along with the Joxter. Joxter himself stayed very close to his son at all times, often ending up embracing him.

After a few days, Snufkin decided he wanted to spend more time with Moomin and their friends, finally looking forward to going out again and going on small adventures. He couldn’t go too big yet, as he was still having a lot of trouble walking around without anyone’s help, but he would insist on going out with them all.

At first, it was hard, Snufkin wasn’t used to walking much anymore and the others hadn’t known about his condition. It led to a little argument, Sniff whining as always and complaining about how slow Snufkin was and Snorkmaiden trying to help him but without taking into consideration his boundaries. Little My would yell at them or even bite them (only Sniff though), scolding them while Moomin would try to calm things down and help Snufkin when he allowed it. Snufkin didn’t refuse as much as he usually would have, but despite that, and despite being better, he couldn’t help but flinch and wince when the voices raised or when they argued. Little My didn’t enjoy it either, much more serious about it than she’d ever been.

Eventually it started to get back to how it was before, granted that Snufkin was still injured and couldn’t walk fine on his own. The changes were mostly seen at home, in the MoominHouse, as Snufkin spent a lot of his time inside, with his sister and his father or with the Moomins, helping as much as he could MoominMamma in the house, or spending time with MoominPappa and his father, reading his memoirs and telling him what he thought, while keeping his father from annoying the older Moomin.

Even at night, Snufkin spent his nights inside, curled up, either on the sofa or in the guest room bed, with his father and his sister wrapping him in their arms. Snufkin even started to ask to sleep with Moomin, very hesitantly and blushing, explaining that he didn’t feel like sleeping alone quite yet but wanted to change air a little, that the sofa and the guest room bed were starting to be a little too uncomfortable for him.

That night was the first night where he would be sleeping with Moomin. Joxter and Little My had pushed him to ask, knowing that he was starting to feel too caged sleeping in the same rooms all the time, and that he would need to still have someone with him. They’d reassured him that they’d be in the guest bedroom if he needed anything.

So, Moomin helped him walk up the stairs towards his bedroom, feeling a little embarrassed as he knew that his face was obviously red with anticipation. He really wanted to spend more time with Snufkin, but he wasn’t sure if he was okay with how much his feelings towards the other boy were making him feel. No matter what, he would stand by his friend, he wouldn’t let his stupid feelings stop him from supporting his best friend.

What Moomin hadn’t quite anticipated was that Snufkin could have troubles in his sleep.

Moomin woke up in the middle of the night from a strange noise. He wasn’t sure what it was at first. He tried rolling over in his bed but felt something restraining him and still. It took him a moment to remember that Snufkin was sleeping with him and that at some point in the night he had wrapped his arms around him.

Moomin slowly, carefully, turned over, making sure not to wake his friend, to face him. What he found nearly broke his heart.

Snufkin was curled up close to him, tail wrapped over his form in protection. He was shaking in his sleep, face streaming down with tears and breath hitching with his sobs. His expression was the worst of it, full of pain and fear despite his eyes being closed.

It was obvious, Snufkin was having a bad nightmare.

Moomin moved his arms to wrap around Snufkin’s shivering frame and pulling him into his chest. He started to make soothing noises and whispering reassurances into Snufkin’s hair, trying to ease him into better dreams without waking him.

Sadly, it didn’t work.

Snufkin finally woke up, startled out of his nightmare, and trying to catch his breath, still sobbing and soaking Moomin’s chest. Snufkin looked up with tear pooled eyes at Moomin, arms retracting from where they were wrapped around the troll to come rest against the troll’s chest. His expression was terrified and pained, as if he’d relived everything that had happened to him again and couldn’t hide how scared he really was.

Moomin shushed him and brought his head to rest against his chest again as he continued to whisper reassurances and rubbed circles onto his back. Snufkin obliged gratefully, letting himself cry onto Moomin and letting himself be comforted by his friend. His body shook for a few long minutes, breath hitching and sobs filling the otherwise silent room, tear streaked face soaking Moomin’s fur.

It took a long moment before Snufkin was calm again. Even as his breath slowed down again, sobs dying down and eyes finally dry, he stayed curled up against Moomin, not seeming to want to move away from his comforting warm arms.

“Sorry…” Snufkin mumbled into Moomin.

“Shhh.” Moomin shushed him gently, still rubbing his back. “it’s okay. Everything is fine, you’re fine.”

“I’m sorry.” Snufkin repeated, starting to cry again.

“Now, none of this. It’s fine.” Moomin gently scolded. “Do you want to talk about it? Mamma says that the best cure for nightmares is to talk about it.”

Snufkin tried to calm himself again, sniffing wetly, before shaking his head. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to wake you up.” He apologized again. “I’d understand if you’d want me to go back to the guest room.” There was an ounce of fear in his voice, one that told Moomin more about his nightmare than any words would.

“Of course not. You’re fine. I’m here for you and I’d never ask you to leave just because you had a nightmare.” Moomin scolded gently but firmly, shaking his head softly. “You’re safe here, no one will hurt you nor scream at you.”

Before Snufkin could apologize again, a creaking noise made both boys jump, Snufkin turning too quickly to face the door and gasping at the sudden pain it caused him. They both watched as Little My peeked in the room. She seemed unsure, shy, but after a moment, she came in, walking quickly towards them and hopping onto the bed and hugging her brother.

Snufkin immediately returned it, pressing her close to him. Moomin looked sadly as the siblings clinged to each other. He could guess that she must have had a nightmare too from how scared and worried she looked as she came in.

After a moment of watching them, Moomin decided it was time for him to act. He wrapped his arms around them both and pulled them back into bed gently. He squeezed gently, reassuringly. It took a moment, but, eventually, they finally relaxed a little and they all dozed off.

It would happen a lot the next few weeks. Every time Snufkin would decide to sleep with Moomin, he would have a nightmare and wake up shaking and crying in the middle of the night. Moomin would always hold him close and try to reassure him that he was alright, that he was safe. Little My soon would follow, sneaking into the room and making her way in between them to hug her brother and be hugged back by both of them.

Moomin was still really worried for his friends. It had been months already and they were still not better yet. Snufkin was still limping and still seemed to be in pain when he walked for too long or when he needed to walk up the stairs. They both still had nightmares and couldn’t let go of each other. They still needed the gentle touch and reassurance from everyone that they were in a safe environment.

He would still find them all curled up with each others and with the Joxter, sometimes even curled up by MoominMamma or in MoominPappa’s study. Even on adventures they would stick by each other and rest as much as they could. Little My seemed to be in pain as well the first few days they went back on adventures, she was clutching to her stomach and wincing, trying to hide it from everybody else. She was doing better now but it didn’t stop her from needing more rest than usual.

Snufkin finally went back in his tent after a few weeks sleeping inside, granted he still needed to have his father and Little My with him, which they didn’t mind as they wanted to keep him close anyway. He’d still come back to sleep inside often but was slowly trying to get back to his usual life style.

It would take months but, eventually, the nightmares died down, still there but not plaguing their dreams every nights. Snufkin started sleeping alone again, his father still near, in the tree next to his tent, and Little My often joining him for the night or sneaking in the middle of the night. He’d still spend many nights with Moomin, the comforting presence of the troll helping him sleep better and feel safer.

Snufkin was still limping and slower than usual, but he was getting better. The pain seemed to have lessened to a more manageable level. He could walk up and down the stairs by himself and needed less rest on adventures.

The two siblings were still very wary of people around them, mostly of the strangers that would come in the valley from time to time. They’d stay far away from them, almost hiding when they’d see them, and studying them from their hiding spot.

Moomin was very proud of them, proud of how they’d overcome a lot of things since they’d come back, proud of how much they were trying to get better, to get back to how they were before. He felt a little sad over seeing them struggling at times but with everyone’s help he was confident they’d be better in due time.

That winter, Snufkin decided to still go on his winter trip south, asking his father to come with him that year, as he didn’t feel better enough yet to be out there all alone yet. The both of them had gone away a few weeks before the moomins went into hibernation, hugging Little My and reassuring her that they’d be alright, that they had each other, and Joxter promising that he’d protect Snufkin.

She was very upset after they’d gone, worrying everyday about them. MoominMamma always reassured her and sent her to play with Moomin and the others to distract her.  
She hibernated with Moomin that year, not wanting to be alone either.

When Spring came and a harmonica song filled the air, she was almost faster than Moomin to get up and go down the ladder. She ran towards the two figures on the bridge and jumped in her brother’s arms. He caught her, wincing a little as the weight put pressure on his injury, but hugged her back. Joxter wrapped his arms around the both of them.

They stayed like that until Moomin finally reached them. Little My then let go of her brother and jumped into Joxter’s arms to get a real hug from him while Snufkin made his way towards the Moomin to hug him.

From the smile on his lips and the way both father and son looked, Moomin could tell that everything would be better that year. They’d all be fine and even though nothing would go back to exactly how it was before, it would be okay. With a little more time and care, they would all be better and everything would go back to a somewhat normal way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There it goes! Thank you all for reading it to the end!   
> I hope you liked it! Don't hesitate to tell me what you thought of it in the comments! I'd love to hear your opinion.
> 
> I'm sorry for making Snufkin suffer so much, but I really enjoyed writing this one.  
> Poor Snufkin... I really do love to make him suffer whoops.
> 
> Now don't think it's the end of my fics because I've got more on the way, about 25 more if that gives you an idea lol.  
> The next one will be a short one and much softer in tone. I'll probably upload it in like a week or so if you're interested.


End file.
